Aaron: Book Three (Scars 3) (5 page)

He gave a laugh
and showed good, white teeth. I didn’t relax though. I knew all about putting
on acts to make people feel at ease before going in for the kill.

“You don’t work
well with others. That’s funny, but don’t forget, Aaron, there’s power in
numbers.” He was still smiling.

I shrugged. “I’m
not a leader.”

His unflinching
gaze was still on me, even as he smiled. He leaned forward slightly. “You like
it, don’t you?”

He didn’t need
to elaborate. We both knew what he was talking about.

The stalking.

The kill.

And the rush
that came with all of that.

“Yes.” I didn’t
look away as I said that. Why would I? It was the truth and nothing to be
ashamed of.

His smile
stretched. “Me too.” The smile didn’t reach his eyes but something glittered
there‒passion, perhaps, or bloodlust. What was the difference? Then his
shoulders squared and it was all back to normal. He spoke of other matters,
other jobs and things he perceived to need taking care of in the future. It
didn’t escape me that all of these had something to do with Antony’s
responsibilities. Did Luca think he was going to rope me in this way? I nodded,
I agreed, but in the back of my mind, my exit plan lingered. Maybe I would be
using it sooner than I thought.

His wife
interrupted with a rap on the door and poked her perfectly made up face around
it to ask when he would be returning outside. People were asking for him, she
said. He gave her a loving husband smile and said ‘Soon, Alexa,’ but his eyes
remained dead as always. She either didn’t notice or chose not to. They had
been together a long time. They had children together and a life, in spite of
the fact that he was…me…an older version of me…

Rachel stood by
herself, near the warmth of one of the fires while she sipped champagne. With
her youth and beauty, other women wanted to stay away from her out of jealousy
while their husbands were too scared to even speak to her incase their wives
misconstrued the attention as something else.

Her eyes flicked
up to me as I finally managed to make my way over to her. Luca seemed to want
me by his side and that was a problem.

“I’m bored,” she
said quietly. “Can we go?”

“I know. Soon.”

She took another
sip of her champagne. Her cheeks were flushed like she’d had several glasses in
my absence. That was probably where her next words came from. “Why?” she asked
suddenly.

“Why what?” I
reached for my own glass from a passing waiter.

“You don’t want
to be here either. Why are we even bothering with these people?”

“These are my
business associates. It’s important to keep up appearances.” I kept my voice
smooth.

She gave me a petulant
glare and slugged back the rest of her drink. Instantly she was signaling to a
waiter for another. He came obediently‒she had that effect on
men‒and she placed her empty glass on the tray before taking another.
“Keeping up appearances,” she rolled her eyes. “What do you care about what
people think? You don’t care about anything!” Her voice was too loud and too
drunk. Several pairs of eyes swung in our direction and Luca was the owner of
one set. He made his way over to us, a smile on his face as his eyes raked over
Rachel leisurely.

Something
stirred in me then and my arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her to me with
such a sudden movement that her champagne jumped from her glass and spilled
down the front of her ugly dress.

That was a
mistake, my pulling her to me like that. He read that sign. He read that she
was my property, and now he knew that if I ever screwed him over that he’d know
how to screw me over just as well. He’d seen me with women before and knew that
I cared not one bit about them except how well they sucked cock and whatever
else they could do for me.

That was what
he’d thought about Rachel up until now. Suddenly, she was more precious. She was
more than just a good looking piece of ass. She was mine and that made her
important. Men like him only wanted what was a challenge; the girl didn’t
matter.

I stiffened.
“She’s drunk. I’m taking her home before she ruins your party.” Mercifully,
Rachel kept her mouth shut.

He nodded but
didn’t buy it. “Of course. It’s a terrible thing to see a woman drunk,” he
murmured. I nearly barked out a laugh at his double standards. He could sever a
man’s limbs from his body but God forbid a woman actually got drunk and made a
scene.

I clawed my
fingers into Rachel’s arm through the fabric of her dress. She didn’t wince or
pull away when I held her tighter than I should have, merely walking away while
I muttered thanks to him and to his wife as she came to join us.

“Let’s just get
the fuck out of here,” I muttered under my breath to Rachel as soon as we were
out of earshot. She let out a peal of laughter.

“That’s what
I’ve wanted all along. Let’s get away from your scary as fuck boss and his Stepford
wife,” she said in a dramatic stage whisper before giggling again.

“Why are you
acting like this?” I pulled out the car keys and pressed the button to unlock
it.

“It’s like you
said. I’m drunk. You left me alone and the booze started flowing.” She swept
into the car more elegantly that I would have thought she was capable of.

“So was the
food.” I rolled my eyes at her. “You could have overindulged with the canapes
instead.

“Yeah, but that
wouldn’t have been as much fun. Plus I need the al-co-hol to cope with those
people. How can you stand them?”

“Don’t do it
again.” I drove through the gates and onto the road.

“Do what? Get
drunk? Like you can talk,” she mocked.

“In front of
them
.
Don’t get drunk in front of them. Don’t let your guard down. The minute they
think you’re vulnerable they’ll take you like you’re a piece of goddamned meat
and I won’t be able to protect you.” My speed increased.

She laughed.
“Sure you will, protect me. You always protect me. My knight in shining armor.”
Her laughter continued. “Or should that be my knight in dark armor?”

We’d reached the
road that twisted and turned around the edge of the cliff, and I roughly pulled
the car off to the side of the road, jamming my foot down on the brake so hard
that we came to a harsh jerk of a stop. She flew forward, protected only by her
seatbelt.

“Ow.” She looked
up at me through her mussed hair, frowning.

I got out of the
car and slammed the door closed behind me, before walking over to the barrier
that was the only thing from stopping someone going over the edge.

She waited a
moment before following. “What’s your problem?” she called, the wind was
whipping her hair around her face. I turned away from her, staring down at the
sea until I felt her hand touch my wrist. “What is it?” Her voice was gentler
now and more sober.

I sighed and
encircled her hand in mine. “In my office is a safe. In it is cash plus
passports. They’ve been forged by the best so they shouldn’t cause any trouble
under inspection.”

“Are we going
somewhere?”

“Not yet, but if
I ever disappear, raid the safe and go. Don’t contact anyone back here, just
go. Destroy your cell and anything else that links you to your identity.”

I expected her
to roll her eyes and scoff at how dramatic I was being, but she didn’t. She
nodded like she understood. “Are you screwing over Luca?”

I released her
hand. “No, but he’s an easy guy to piss off. He’s unpredictable and ruthless.
If one day he decides that my time is done. I won’t be given any warning. I’ll
just be dead, and if he’s feeling particularly sadistic, you’ll be dead too.”

That wasn’t
completely true; my guard was constantly up. I’d know it when it was my time
and I would not go quietly, but I wanted to scare her. It didn’t work however.
She gazed at me with a serious look in her eyes as she took in my words.

“You’re not an
easy person to kill,” she said quietly.

“I have an
injury now.” My hand went to my leg. “It’s a weakness.”

“And I’m your
other weakness.” Her eyes were hard.

“No.”

She tilted her
head to one side. “Yes. You came for me the last time.”

Yeah, and that
was fucking foolish.

I flashed her a
smile. “I always learn from my mistakes.”

She shrugged
like it didn’t matter. “Let’s go. I’m cold.” She started to walk away but I
reached out and grabbed her wrist, gently pulling her toward me.

“Luca’s a
psychopath. It’s something that doesn’t matter at all to me, but it should to
you. If he wants you, he’ll just take you and claim you. Self preservation is
king. It always will be.”

Her mouth
flicked up into the merest ghost of a smile. “It must be like looking in a
mirror for you.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” She
pulled away. “Let’s go.”

I waited for a
moment before following her back to the car.

Back at the house, I showered. Closing
my eyes, I stood under the spray but it didn’t soothe me. All I saw in my mind
was Luca looking at Rachel. It would be better if there had been lust on his
face. Lust I could deal with, but this was just a cold nothing. I shivered
despite the heat of the water.

When I came out
of the bathroom, wrapping a towel around my waist, Rachel lay on the bed,
watching me.

She had removed
the ugly dress and just lay there in her bra and panties.

“Sober now?” I
asked her, before I saw the glass of wine that sat beside her on the nightstand.
“Guess not.”

“I like it. It
makes me feel…nice.” Her voice was so soft that she was hard to hear. “Come
over here.” She patted the space beside her and I didn’t move immediately. It
was times like these that she confused me‒when she was so welcoming, almost
as if her wall had crumbled down, but I knew that it wasn’t the truth and that
wall was constantly there between us, and her act and machinations were like
empty battlements; a trick when waiting behind them were men with arrows ready
to fire into your core.

In spite of
this, I lay down beside her and let my hands sweep along her smooth thighs,
feeling the muscle that she had cultivated there. Before she had been so thin
that I could probably have broken her with my bare hands; that wasn’t the case
now.

I let my hands
move along her skin to her inner thigh where the skin was at its softest, but
they didn’t stay there for long. I wanted the prize and I wanted to tease. She
didn’t utter a word as I let my fingers work in past the crotch of her panties
to find the warmth and softness there. Her breathing became faster automatically
as she moistened. I looked at her face. Her eyes were closed and her head
tilted back while a half smile sat on her lips.

I stopped my
movements. “Look at me.”

Slowly her eyes
opened.

“I want you to
look at me. I want you to know that it’s me.”

“I do know that
it’s you. Who else would I really want touching me?”

I didn’t know
the answer to that question so I kept rubbing and dipping into her while she
let out small moans.

“Fuck me now,”
she rasped as her hips lifted off of the bed. “Now. I want you fucking me.” Her
voice was uneven and rasping. I didn’t need to be asked again. I tore off her
panties, the silk ripping with ease, before I plunged into her. I fit perfectly
like her body was made just for me. Her legs came around me straight away,
pulling me in deeper as she smiled drunkenly, crazily laughing with lust that
soon changed into a long moan that was followed by panting and then twisted
noises like she wanted to speak but couldn’t. Normally she was so quiet that I
felt like I had to pound her hard for a vocal reaction. Although her body
always gave away what she wouldn’t let her voice betray.

But now, there
was nothing holding her back and that make me cum hard as she screamed out as she
came. Her nails gripped my back as she kept me in her for a few moments before
allowing me to slide from her. I rolled onto my back, absolutely spent and
dripping with sweat. Her eyes were closed again with that lazy smile on her
face. Her breasts were moving as she took deep breaths, and finally she got
herself under control again to turn and look at me.

Her fingers
danced over my chest and then down to my abs as I lay on my back, resting my
head on my hands. She took her time exploring me, her fingers sending a tingle
direct to my dick that was ready to go again the second that she wanted it.

“Your body is so
warm, so magical in what it can do,” she murmured as her fingers continued on
their gentle dance over my muscle, she lifted her head to watch me through her
hair “but your eyes…your eyes are empty.”

I didn’t move. I
didn’t give an inch of reaction, even as she continued. “You call Luca a
psychopath but that’s what you are, can’t you see that?” I still kept quiet. “That’s
why you’re around him, isn’t it? Because he is what you are, and you like the
challenge, in fact, I’ll bet that the only way you feel anything akin to fear,
anything at all, is when you’re with him, because you know what he’s capable
and that makes you feel alive. You both like to prey on the weak.” Her eyes
were boring into me now, unmoving and unflinching. She wanted…what? Did she
want me to agree or to argue?

“Does it
matter?” I asked finally.

She moved her
hands from me, and I missed them.

“I guess not.”

She went to move
away, but I grabbed her wrist to keep her there. “I’m not a psychopath, Rachel.
I’ve been forced to see psychiatrists when I was in the system as a juvenile
and no one’s ever said that I’m a psychopath.”
Yeah, and they never said you
were normal either.

“Then what are
you?”

“Ruthless.”

She shook her
head, her blonde hair swayed around her, flicking onto my skin. “No. That’s not
it. There’s more to you.”

I let her go and
grabbed for my towel, sighing. “So deep, Rachel, really.” I walked back toward
the bathroom to shower again.

“If you’re so
normal then why don’t you show emotion? You only do when you’re drunk,” she
called after me. I paused at the door and then turned to her and grinned.

“I show you
plenty of emotion.”

“It’s not real.
None of it’s real.”

I shrugged again
and stepped inside the bathroom, but before I closed the door I said. “You’re
wrong about one thing. There’s nothing weak about the men that we prey on. They
normally deserve their fate.”

“What about me?
I’m not part of that world and you preyed on me.” The words flew from her,
tinged with emotion.

 “There was
nothing weak about you, Rachel.” There was nothing more to say and I closed the
door.

She had vacated
the room when I returned. I spied her sitting outside by the pool, alone and
staring at nothing as she hugged her knees to her chest. She had changed into a
white dress that was too cold for the weather and the darkening sky. That was
her problem. I had work to do.

She still hadn’t
come in when I returned downstairs with a bag slung over my shoulder and keys
in hand. “I’m heading out for a few days,” I told her from the doorway.

“Okay.” She
didn’t turn to look at me.

I didn’t have to
go tonight, but I wanted to get away from her. I didn’t like her dissecting me,
and worse, I didn’t like her questioning me. I’d get Antony to check in on her
later. He enjoyed her company, besides, I was getting his job out of the way.
He owed me.

As I was backing
out of the garage, I saw her, just out of the corner of my eye. She stood at
the window, staring at me through the glass. The dying sun glinting on the
glass distorted her image, reflecting light and obscuring her face. The only
definite object that I saw there was the white dress, and that image stayed
with me as I pulled out of the driveway and set off to kill three people.

I didn’t know
why I let myself get distracted. I had a shit load of work to do, but once I
changed cars and arrived in the town, I found myself heading to the address
that I’d imprinted on my memory months ago.

The house was
nice. She must have been doing well for herself, or at the very least, using
her cunt and her mouth well to get what she wanted. Her hair was now a blonde
that was darker than Rachel’s. It incorporated several different shades so she
obviously had it touched up at an expensive salon each month. She looked
comfortable in her skin like the chameleon life suited her well. Her lover had
bought her an expensive convertible that she zigzagged through traffic in like
she had no care in the world. She tipped generously and smiled graciously and
condescendingly at people she thought were beneath her as they loaded her bags
into her car for her.

The guy that
she’d trapped or seduced was a weedy looking man and shorter than her. He had
some IT company and drooled whenever she touched him. He thought that he’d made
it and had no idea that this woman was about to rip him off big time. I watched
as they kissed outside the house. It was like she was engulfing him with her
mouth, almost eating him alive.

Would this be
what Rachel would turn into as she aged? A money hungry monster prepared to
devour anyone to get what she wanted? She had a ruthless side. That I knew all
too well, but was that because of what I had done to her or was it always
there, waiting to emerge from her beautiful shell of a body like the flies in
his dream…

Fuck. I had to
stop thinking like that. He was nuts. Plain and simple. She wasn’t the devil;
she wasn’t a fucking demoness. Rachel was just a girl who had been tormented
and trodden on. It was the rest of us who were fucked up.

I gripped the
steering wheel so hard that my knuckles went white as I tried to take deep
breaths. I had to be careful. I would not go crazy like him.

Swallowing
finally, I twisted the key in the ignition and drove off. I had a job to do. I
had other people to stalk. She would wait until the time was right.

The people I was
being paid to be concerned with lived in a far less upscale neighborhood. The
sons attended a local college but still lived at home with their mother. I
watched from down the street as their old car pulled up to a stop outside of
the house. They were laughing and joking as they exited the car. One tried to
tackle the other but his brother dodged out of the way, laughing and mocking
his brother.

Then the mother
came out. She was dressed in the uniform for the elderly persons’ home where
she worked. She’d be heading off for the night shift soon. Her hair was scraped
back and she looked tired, but her whole demeanor changed as she saw her sons.
Her face broke into a smile and she wrapped her arms around each one and they
bent down to kiss her. All joking between the brothers was gone now. They
clearly adored their mother and she had all of their attention. That stirred
something in me. I adored my mother once as well, maybe I was four or five, but
it didn’t last long; it died and turned to pity instead.

I watched as she
laughingly pushed them away to start walking toward her car, blowing them a
kiss as she did so.

Who were these
people and why did Antony need them dead?

And why the fuck
did I care? They were nothing. They struggled to make ends meet. The boys both
worked as well as studying. She was a solo mother who had raised her kids alone
since they were babies. There was no father in the picture. There never had
been. There was no father listed on the birth certificates and she’d never been
married. She rented this house. She had nothing but a shitty car and a shitty
life.

HUMANE had been
scrawled in capital letters. Quick and humane so they wouldn’t even know what
was happening. What the fuck was Antony doing? Even he could have taken them
out, if he had the balls to.

As if he knew
that I was thinking about him, a text flashed on my phone. He was keeping
Rachel company for the evening.

I didn’t think
that he wanted to fuck her. If anything, he felt like more of a father to her,
but he needn’t. I could take care of her. I was all that she needed.

Inside, one of
the brothers pulled the blinds and I started the car. I was done here for
tonight. I needed food and sleep.

Those were the
only things that I ever needed.

I dreamed, and
it was of Rachel.

It was when I
made her straddle me. Made her, made her, made her‒I forced her through
sheer terror, I needed to own up to that. But in the dream, I didn’t take smug
satisfaction in it. Instead, I was mesmerized by her. This golden creature put
her mouth on mine and sunk down on me, engulfing me in pure warmth. A lump
formed in my mouth and my eyes stung and to my horror, tears began to form. I
hadn’t cried in years and now liquid was falling onto my cheeks.

Rachel broke her
kiss and gazed at me, her lips curving into a smile as she saw me crying.

“Oh, Aaron,” she
said softly and kindly. “Don’t cry yet.” Suddenly, her eyes hardened. “I’m not
even half way done with you yet.” Her voice had changed into a deep tone that
wasn’t hers. It sounded demonic and I tried desperately to shove her away but
she had an iron grip on me. She laughed as I struggled and then her mouth
opened wide and something black flew out. It was a fly, and then another
followed, and then another. A continuous swarm emerged and I screamed.

My eyes flew
open to be confronted by the dark of the motel room with just a small shard of
false light creeping in through a gap in the curtain.

I threw the
blankets from me as I struggled for breath. Sweat covered my body and my heart
beat rapidly. Shit. How did I get so freaked out by a nightmare? Terror was for
children, not me, and I was the one who committed that terror. I was the
predator, not the victim.

“Bitch. Rachel,
you bitch,” I said to the empty room.

I reached for my
phone and hastily pressed her name in the contacts. It rang for a while before
her sleepy voice answered.